In this third episode of Against the Grain's series on Artists and Activism, we talk to artists who come from farming backgrounds and have joined Farm Aid over the years to stand up for family farmers. We hear first from the legendary bluesman, Taj Mahal, who grew up picking tobacco and working on a dairy farm in Massachusetts before studying animal husbandry and agronomy in college. Like Taj, the other artists we talked to for this episode - Cassandra Lewis, Waylon Payne and Charley Crockett - see their musical lives deeply intertwined with their love of the land and commitment to showing up for family farmers.

In this 2nd episode of Against the Grain's series on Artists and Activism, we talk to artists using their storytelling skills and platforms to engage with important social and political issues. You'll hear from Farm Aid board artist Margo Price, Kyshona and Tami Neilson; as well as Steve Duncombe, co-founder of the Center for Artistic Activism. 

In this first episode of Against the Grain's new series, Artists and Activism, we focus on the American folk music tradition. Music journalist Dorian Lynskey provides valuable historical context. He reminds us that music and politics have mixed from the beginning - even before the dawn of recorded sound - but that its folk musicians who popularized activist song and the trend of showing up in solidarity with those fighting oppression. We talk to folk musicians Steve Earle, Rainbow Girls, Tré Burt and Jesse Welles about activism in their music and how they use their music in their activism, as well as how they navigate the inevitable pushback that follows. Remember The Chicks being told to "shut up and sing!" following a statement about President George W. Bush and the Iraq War? We talk about that, too!

Against the Grain is the Farm Aid podcast, designed to bring the magic of Farm Aid’s annual festival to listeners year-round. This season, in our series Artists and Activism, we'll talk to more than two dozen artists who are using their art and their voices as vehicles for political engagement and expression on issues that matter to them - and to all of us.

Against the Grain is heading back to the Luck Reunion festival, held on Farm Aid president Willie Nelson's ranch outside of Austin, Texas. The night before the festival, the Luck Family Foundation puts on a PotLuck dinner, bringing chefs from across the country to prepare a regionally-sourced meal that is cooked over an open fire. Proceeds from this dinner benefit Farm Aid and the Texas Food and Wine Alliance. In past podcast episodes, we featured interviews with chefs we met there last year - folks like Rick Bayless, Bleu Adams and Michel Nischan. In this episode, we highlight some of the other chefs we spoke with last year and focus especially on how their work with local farmers builds what Farm Aid calls The Good Food Movement. Check it out!

In this episode of Against the Grain, join us backstage at Farm Aid 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York, for an interview with Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones. Farm Aid Board Artist Margo Price invited Representative Jones to join us in Saratoga Springs, and we caught up with him after he and Margo returned from a panel in the HOMEGROWN Village.

You may know Representative Jones already. He's one of the two Tennessee state representatives expelled from the House during a debate over public safety in the wake of a horrific school shooting in Nashville. In a special election, Jones and his colleague Justin Pearson were quickly returned to their seats in the House. We were excited to talk to Jones because, as he tells it, he was put on the House Agriculture Committee as a punishment. Justin illustrates how bipartisan work is possible when issues are humanized and how food and agriculture are some of the issues that transcend usual divisions in the legislature.

In this special episode of Against the Grain, we dig into our recently digitized archives to highlight Farm Aid's awe-inspiring founder and president, Willie Nelson. You may remember that we discussed how the first Farm Aid concert came together in the first episode of the podcast, but in this episode, we highlight the range of work Willie has done for the family farm movement outside of the annual festival. Year-in and year-out, for forty years, Willie has shown up to work shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers and ranchers whenever they've needed him. For this episode, we unearthed some archival audio of Willie joining a haylift in 1996, helping to distribute hay shipped by farmers in South Carolina to ranchers in Texas who, faced with a prolonged drought, couldn't grow enough of their own hay for their cattle. Listen in as Willie greets the trucks, donated and driven by Teamsters Union drivers, and then goes out to Travis county ranches to distribute the hay. Willie may be in his 90s now, but he continues to stand alongside farmers fighting for a more just food and farm system.

In this episode of Against the Grain, we take you to the FarmYard Stage at Farm Aid 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York. There we made our first recording of an Against the Grain episode in front of a live audience, under the big tent out in Farm Aid's HOMEGROWN Village. Every year at Farm Aid, farmers and artists come together on the FarmYard Stage to talk about pressing farm and food issues. The Against the Grain panel discussion featured two rockstar farmers, Hope LaBonty of Loving Earth Compost and Elizabeth Ryan of Breezy Hill Orchards, along with bona fide rockstar and frequent Farm Aid artist Nathaniel Rateliff. Listen in as Hope and Liz talk about the soil - how composting all of the food waste from an event like Farm Aid generates new soil - and how farmers, organizers and the public can come together to make composting happen on a scale that is transformative. You'll also hear Nathaniel talk not only about the platform that artists have to support farmers like Liz and Hope, but also about how music and food bring people together, transcending political division.  For many Farm Aid artists, participating in a FarmYard Stage discussion is one of their favorite festival experiences.

On this episode of Against the Grain, we’re bringing you as close as possible to an actual taste of the Farm Aid festival... We're talking about the mind-blowing, family farm food that festivalgoers eat each year at Farm Aid! Our guests are Farm Aid's Associate Director, Glenda Yoder and our Culinary Director, Sonya Dagovitz who, together, established HOMEGROWN Concessions® in 2007. As Farm Aid moves around the country every year, they swap out the food normally served at the venue for food sourced from family farmers who follow specific ecological standards and who get paid a fair price. The food is the best food you'll ever get at a live event, and it's changing the concert industry. Hear from Farm Aid board artist Dave Matthews on HOMEGROWN Concessions® too! We also talk to Chef Michel Nischan of Wholesome Wave who, with former USDA undersecretary Gus Schumacher, pioneered using food stamps (now called SNAP benefits) to buy family farm fruits and vegetables - proving that all Americans, regardless of income level, want good quality food. In this episode, farmers and eaters unite!